Oct. 21, 2025

Medicare Scams and How to Protect Yourself

Medicare Scams and How to Protect Yourself
iHeartRadio podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconSpreaker podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconYoutube Music podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconCastamatic podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconPodimo podcast player iconPodurama podcast player icon
iHeartRadio podcast player iconAmazon Music podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconPandora podcast player iconPodchaser podcast player iconAudible podcast player iconSpotify podcast player iconDeezer podcast player iconSpreaker podcast player iconPodcast Addict podcast player iconYoutube Music podcast player iconYouTube podcast player iconCastbox podcast player iconCastamatic podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconFountain podcast player iconGoodpods podcast player iconOvercast podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player iconPocketCasts podcast player iconPodimo podcast player iconPodurama podcast player icon
Season 1

It's Medicare annual enrollment period and our guest, Steve, is here to discuss Medicare scams, tips on how you can protect yourself, and Medicare rules.
Definitely an episode you do not want to miss!

Let’s Talk About Scams is broadcast live Tuesdays at 8AM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Let’s Talk About Scams TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

Let’s Talk About Scams Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional / legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted sources and references; however, R.O.S.E. Resources / Outreach to Safeguard the Elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to a scam.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/let-s-talk-about-scams--6483699/support.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.599
This program is designed to provide general information with regards

2
00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:07.559
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

3
00:00:07.639 --> 00:00:12.160
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

4
00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:19.239
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial, legal, counseling,

5
00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:23.600
professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services

6
00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:29.359
of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.

7
00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:33.759
The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational

8
00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:37.240
purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional

9
00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:41.119
legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted

10
00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:45.359
sources and references. However, Rose Resources outreach to safeguard the

11
00:00:45.399 --> 00:00:48.320
elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim to

12
00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:53.840
a scam. Let's talk about scams. It's the must listen

13
00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:57.119
show for anyone who wants to protect themselves and their

14
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:01.679
loved ones from scams. Every Tuesday at am Pacific time

15
00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:05.879
on K four HD Radio, Joyce Petrowski, founder of Rose,

16
00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.879
and her guests will provide valuable insights and practical tips

17
00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:15.239
on how to recognize and protect yourself from scams. And

18
00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.799
now here is your host, Joyce Petrowski.

19
00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:21.040
Hi, everybody, welcome, back.

20
00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:26.319
I trust you enjoyed last week's show with Brian talking

21
00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:32.959
about the urgency and why we need the scam prevention

22
00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:36.319
through education out there to educate everybody on how to

23
00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:41.239
recognize a scam and prevent yourself from falling victim to it.

24
00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:47.079
Today it is we are in the annual open enrollment

25
00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:50.200
for Medicare, and so we are going to be talking

26
00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:57.079
to Steve Slatnik about he's a Medicare agent and about

27
00:01:57.079 --> 00:01:59.719
some different Medicare scams and how you can protect yourself.

28
00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:03.280
But first, don't forget to go to the website Roseadvocacy

29
00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:06.200
dot Org. On the homepage you'll find our social media

30
00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:08.680
links and scroll down to the bottom you can sign

31
00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:11.879
up for our mailed and or emailed newsletter. You're gonna

32
00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:14.319
want to hit subscribe so you don't miss an episode,

33
00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:18.879
and you can also find all the episodes on YouTube.

34
00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:22.240
But also are Let's talk about Scams dot com website.

35
00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:25.080
So now let's bring Steven so we can get going.

36
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:30.599
Hi Steve, Hi Joyce, thanks for having me.

37
00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:31.719
Thanks, how you doing.

38
00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:36.800
I'm doing great this morning. Like you said, it's open enrollment,

39
00:02:36.919 --> 00:02:39.120
so this is my busy time of the year, but

40
00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:40.680
things are going well.

41
00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:41.680
Good, good, good.

42
00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:45.319
Could you just take a minute and let everyone know

43
00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:47.840
your background and what it is you do.

44
00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.520
Sure. Yeah, I've worked in the financial services industry for

45
00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.159
about fifteen years. For the past over five years now,

46
00:02:57.199 --> 00:03:00.960
I've had my own insurance agencies and independent insurance agency.

47
00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:05.360
It's called Panga Insurance Services, and I'm an independent insurance broker.

48
00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:08.800
I specialize in health insurance and Medicare, so I work

49
00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.159
with a lot of seniors. And you don't necessarily have

50
00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:15.479
to be sixty five plus to have eligible for Medicare,

51
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.199
but many of my clients, of course, are the majority

52
00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:21.039
of people in Medicare are sixty five plus, so I

53
00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:28.439
work with a lot of our seniors and Medicare eligibles.

54
00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:30.039
All right, well, very good.

55
00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:36.560
So annual enrollment started October fifteenth, Is that right?

56
00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:37.919
About a week ago?

57
00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:41.960
Correct? Yeah? And depending on what plan you have, I mean,

58
00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.599
if you have an advantage plan or if you have

59
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:48.400
a supplement plan, they make it as confusing as possible,

60
00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:51.000
of course, but open enrollment can be a little bit different.

61
00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:55.520
But really for most people, if you want a January

62
00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:57.560
first effective date, so if you're making any changes in

63
00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:01.240
open enrollment, that will be done from Octo over fifteenth

64
00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:04.120
to December seventh is our window.

65
00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.560
And those changes take effect January first.

66
00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:09.319
That's correct, okay.

67
00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:11.840
And is there some other.

68
00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:17.680
Enrollment period that starts in January and runs for a

69
00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.600
few months.

70
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.680
And that would be specific to if you had a

71
00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:24.399
Medicare advantage plan, so you do have a little bit

72
00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:26.360
of a buffer there. So if you're signing up for

73
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:30.600
a Medicare advantage plan in January, or you have even

74
00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:33.600
a little bit after that, it could it would then

75
00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:36.279
take effect the first of the following month. So if

76
00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:39.240
you make a change in your Medicare advantage plan in January,

77
00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:42.800
that change would be effective for February first, for instance.

78
00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:46.519
But that's a specific to the Medicare advantage only for.

79
00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:49.800
That window, okay, all right, And then.

80
00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:54.399
I also want to clarify that my understanding of when

81
00:04:54.519 --> 00:04:58.199
you have to sign up you have a window to

82
00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:01.360
first when you first sign up for Medicare, and that's

83
00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:04.920
the three months before the month you turn sixty five,

84
00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:07.759
the month you turn sixty five, and three months after

85
00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:10.160
that that's your seventh month window.

86
00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:22.040
That's correct. The biggest I guess question or uh, what

87
00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.959
people don't always get right though, is if you are working,

88
00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:28.600
still working in your over sixty five, you don't have

89
00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:31.920
to sign up for Medicare if you have what's called

90
00:05:31.959 --> 00:05:34.800
credible coverage, and that normally means you have a large

91
00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:40.720
employer of twenty five plus employees. You'll get a letter

92
00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:43.319
every year saying that this is credible coverage. My prescription

93
00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:47.800
drug coverage is credible coverage, my health insurance is credible coverage.

94
00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:50.319
If you have if you get that letter every year,

95
00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:53.319
you work with a large employer, you have health insurance,

96
00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:58.199
and say this employer UH covers your health insurance one

97
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:00.879
hundred percent, it might make sense you just keep that

98
00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:03.360
and you don't necessarily have to sign up for Medicare

99
00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.680
when you're sixty five. In that seven month window that

100
00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.759
you referred to, you then can have what's called a

101
00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:15.680
special election period, so when you decide to retire or

102
00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:18.920
you lose coverage, there's some other instances where you can

103
00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:21.600
have that. You can then can sign up for Medicare

104
00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:23.920
and be sixty seven years old, sixty eight years old,

105
00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:26.480
so you your age of turning sixty five no longer

106
00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:29.079
matters because you had credible coverage insurance this whole time,

107
00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:31.959
and you will not be penalized. So that's the Okay,

108
00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:36.560
one of the big things I think people just information wise,

109
00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:39.639
providing information wise that I do out there a lot,

110
00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:41.399
because a lot of people are still working a little

111
00:06:41.399 --> 00:06:45.079
bit later past sixty five, you know, ten years ago,

112
00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:46.920
twenty years ago, that might have not been in a case,

113
00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:48.560
but I think, I mean, I get a lot of

114
00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:50.439
people that are in their sixties that are still working,

115
00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:55.279
and we hold off on getting them medicare, especially if

116
00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:59.199
their plan is one hundred percent covering their insurance. So

117
00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:02.839
no pointing that you know, part be pretty much you know,

118
00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.800
almost two hundred dollars now every month.

119
00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.839
So and you can is it your current employer that's

120
00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:15.639
offering that coverage for you? Is it their responsibility to

121
00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:16.800
send you that letter?

122
00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:21.800
The insurance carrier, the insurance carrier, one of the two. Yeah,

123
00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:26.240
normally the insurance carrier takes we'll provide that that's part

124
00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.519
of their responsibility. Okay, So it'll normally directly come from them,

125
00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:32.959
but you know, depending on how the plan is set up,

126
00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:34.720
you know, maybe the HR, it.

127
00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:36.720
Could go to the HR of the company and then

128
00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.199
the HR distributes it to all the people that it

129
00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:42.560
applies to. So that's interesting I didn't know that part

130
00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:43.800
about it.

131
00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:44.680
One.

132
00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:48.920
Yeah, yeah, and so, and.

133
00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:53.439
You mentioned you won't get penalized because you have the

134
00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:54.439
credible coverage.

135
00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:56.279
So is there a time limit.

136
00:07:56.360 --> 00:08:03.560
Let's say let's say I'm sixty seven and I am

137
00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:05.920
still working and I have credible coverage, I have the

138
00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:09.600
letter to back it up, and then I decide to retire.

139
00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:13.040
Do I have a certain time limit before then I

140
00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:15.279
need to sign up for Medicare?

141
00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:20.879
Correct? Yeah, you don't have that seven month window. I

142
00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:25.000
believe it's a sixty day window in that case. Okay,

143
00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:29.800
Now the other thing is now when we're applying for

144
00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:33.559
Part B and these Medicare programs, processing takes a little

145
00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:35.919
bit of time. So if you know you are, my

146
00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.279
recommendation is if I know I'm sixty seven, I'm sixty eight.

147
00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.159
I held off on doing anything with Medicare and going

148
00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:44.720
in there. Signing up through Social Security is where you

149
00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:48.960
sign up for Medicare Part and B. Sometimes you're automatically

150
00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.679
sign up for Part A. But say you're sixty seven,

151
00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:55.279
you have not yet signed up for Medicare Part A

152
00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:59.600
Part B. You know you're retiring in September. We want

153
00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:01.759
to be pro active in that sense and and be

154
00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:03.600
signing up for Part B, you know, a month or

155
00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.120
two ahead of time, because processing times are based on

156
00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:09.240
how busy they get over there. So sometimes it's a

157
00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:12.759
couple sometimes it's three weeks processing. Other times it's been

158
00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:16.440
much longer. So make sure we're doing that early. Used

159
00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:19.360
to they used to let you in the Social Security system,

160
00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.159
they used to let you pick your effective date, like

161
00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:25.120
so I could an individual could go in there and say,

162
00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:27.399
I want my Part B to be effective September one,

163
00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:31.080
and they're doing this month in advance. They don't Maybe

164
00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.919
maybe if you go in person they would allow that,

165
00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.360
but when you're at least online, they're no longer like

166
00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.639
giving you that option. So they're just kind of processing

167
00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:41.559
it as quickly as they can, and then it's becoming

168
00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:45.279
effective you know, the first of the next month. But again,

169
00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:47.519
you know, sometimes that can take over a month or

170
00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:51.320
two months, you know, and in certain instances, right and

171
00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:53.840
going on with the THAL shutdown right now, I could

172
00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:57.799
be a basic if you're you're looking at medicare right now, man,

173
00:09:58.039 --> 00:09:59.440
you know, get on that as soon as possible.

174
00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.120
I bet they're not right, yeah, And you mentioned you

175
00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:04.320
know you might be able to pick your starting date.

176
00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:09.519
If you go to Soil Security in person, that's you

177
00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:13.000
better plan a whole day, because I know I had

178
00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:15.960
to do that. My mom passed away almost six years

179
00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.480
ago and I had to go down to SOL Security

180
00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:21.279
because we had an issue and it required a manager

181
00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:23.159
that I had to sit and go through everything with.

182
00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:28.000
And I made an appointment, and I thought, oh wow, okay,

183
00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:28.559
this is great.

184
00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:29.639
I can make an appointment.

185
00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:32.240
And all that did was get me through the first line,

186
00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.039
and then you have to go to the second line,

187
00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:39.519
and that could be really long, and then you check

188
00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:41.840
in at the second line, and I still waited two

189
00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:44.279
and a half hours before I could see somebody. So

190
00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:48.320
it was literally like a four to five hour you

191
00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.159
know timeslot, and everybody's busy, you know, like I say,

192
00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.399
you don't set aside time to talk to the irs

193
00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.879
or the sole security here or anything.

194
00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:04.399
But all right, so that's interesting. So scams.

195
00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:08.480
Have you seen or heard from your clients or maybe

196
00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:13.080
read anything about some current Medicare scams that are going on.

197
00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:22.320
Yeah, you know, my dad actually worked in this field

198
00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:26.039
as an attorney for quite some time. He's retired now,

199
00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:30.000
but he worked on like government scams which would include

200
00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:32.840
the Medicare and Medicaid system. And so this is huge

201
00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:36.240
amounts of money, right that they absolutely into these programs.

202
00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:41.480
So there's a lot of incentive right for fraudden because

203
00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:44.039
there's I mean we're talking millions plus.

204
00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:46.000
Right right, more Yeah, billions.

205
00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:50.720
I mean there's hundreds of million dollar scams constantly going

206
00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.960
on where they are people are.

207
00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:59.679
Billing frauduling charges right, quaduling.

208
00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:03.320
Charges and using people's information, whether they know it or not,

209
00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.360
to run up these charges.

210
00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:09.799
So that's a that's I have a question there with that.

211
00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:12.919
You know, That's one of the things we warn people

212
00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:16.679
about in our presentations is you really need to monitor

213
00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:23.080
your Medicare statements because if you find fraudulent charges, then

214
00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:26.000
what's the best thing for them to do. Go directly

215
00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:30.919
to their Medicare agent about it, or go directly to

216
00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:34.759
the Medicare government office.

217
00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:38.799
Yeah, I go go. Medic recommends that you go directly

218
00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:41.360
to them. I can assist in a lot of different ways.

219
00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:45.879
I mean I so obviously my my expertise is more

220
00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:49.279
along the lines of the whole I can help you

221
00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:50.240
sign up with Medicare.

222
00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:51.840
I can getting people on the right plan.

223
00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:54.080
I get you people on the right plan. I analyze

224
00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:57.000
different prescription drug plans and things like that, but yeah,

225
00:12:57.039 --> 00:12:59.320
I can. I can certainly point you in the right direction.

226
00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.879
But in terms of managing that, yeah, directly through medicare.

227
00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.639
Contact them as soon as possible. Contact your carrier as well.

228
00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:10.000
Most people ninety nine point nine percent of people are

229
00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:13.279
going to have their medicare connected to either an advantage

230
00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.360
plan or supplement plan. So you want to contact you know,

231
00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:20.440
your supplement or advantage carrier as well so that they're aware.

232
00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:22.600
And these carriers might pick up on it, you know,

233
00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:24.919
even before you and be the ones that are notifying

234
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:29.759
you of chargers that just don't look right to them.

235
00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:31.759
Yeah, all right. Yeah.

236
00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:33.440
I had a lady once tell me, you know, she

237
00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:37.279
was monitoring her statements and there was like ten thousand

238
00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:41.840
dollars in catheters and she's like, I've never used a catheter, so,

239
00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:45.480
you know, and it happens, right, and there might be

240
00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:48.360
some little charges that get slipped through in the beginning,

241
00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.840
right that kind of like credit cards. Sometimes they'll charge

242
00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:53.919
a little bit just to make sure the card's active

243
00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:56.960
and it's working, and then here comes all the other charges.

244
00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:00.720
They're just so sophisticated. These days are easy to miss

245
00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:04.840
this I second guest, My you know some emails as

246
00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:07.320
you know a business owner as you as well, Joyce.

247
00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:10.080
I mean we get these constantly through the through email,

248
00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:15.120
through the phone. They're just so sophisticated. Now, one thing

249
00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.440
Medicare recommends that you do if you know, if you

250
00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.720
have someone calling you directly. First of all, Medicare is

251
00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:24.639
not going to call you directly, it says, I believe

252
00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:27.360
on the website. It says like, very very rarely in

253
00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:30.879
certain specific instances is someone from Medicare going to actually

254
00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.759
call you. So there's a lot of scams out there.

255
00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.159
Medicare is contacting you and they need and they're trying

256
00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:39.360
to you know, verify your information. So here ID number

257
00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:41.159
this and that and then you're going to know more

258
00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:46.000
on that subject. But yeah, in very rare circumstances are

259
00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:47.960
they are they doing this. So what they recommend you

260
00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:50.120
do is if someone calls you and they're bringing up

261
00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:53.240
a concern fraudulent charges or wherever they're however they're trying

262
00:14:53.240 --> 00:14:56.679
to get to you and your information, you say, okay,

263
00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:58.799
thank you, you know, I'm going to hang up now,

264
00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:01.720
and then you call the Medicare phone number and then

265
00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:03.519
say this is so and so I got I just

266
00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:05.840
was received a phone call from someone claiming that they

267
00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:10.039
were Medicare representative. And then that's you know, the best way,

268
00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:11.519
and you know that's how we have to do it

269
00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:15.720
as well. On certain scams that like come directly at

270
00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:18.360
me that aren't Medicare related, it could be something else.

271
00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:19.840
Oh yeah, absolutely.

272
00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:22.879
In fact, I am during the presentation yesterday, I did

273
00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:26.600
out in the West Valley, you know, and this lady

274
00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:29.799
was talking to me about I think it was the

275
00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:35.320
irs or no, I'm sorry it was it was her

276
00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:39.600
bank maybe that called her, right, and they weren't trying

277
00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:42.679
to sell something. It was they were talking to her

278
00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:46.320
about are you really writing these checks? Could be the

279
00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:49.200
same thing, right, if they're pretending to be a Medicare agent.

280
00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.200
You know, we think there might be fraudulent activity on

281
00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:56.080
your account, but I need to verify you, right, And

282
00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:00.879
and I said in that instance, by you saying no,

283
00:16:01.080 --> 00:16:03.960
I wasn't writing those checks, you're not giving out any information.

284
00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:06.759
But your next thing you say is if you want

285
00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:09.240
to be nice and say thank you, I'll get I'll

286
00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:11.080
go to the bank myself and hang out or just

287
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:16.200
hang up, right, and then verify by calling Medicare or

288
00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:18.480
calling the bank with their you know, you have their

289
00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:22.000
phone number, going down in person and checking things out.

290
00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:25.279
They're going to try to give whoever's on the other

291
00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:26.519
end of the line is going to try to give

292
00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.639
you a phone number. Oh, I have the bank's number,

293
00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:30.639
I have Medicare's number, let me give it to you.

294
00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:33.519
It's just going to reroute you right back into that

295
00:16:33.679 --> 00:16:36.600
group that they're in, right, and it won't be them

296
00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:40.639
that answers, It'll be someone else right answering the phone.

297
00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:45.279
So it's it's you mentioned how sophisticated they are AI,

298
00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:51.000
and I would imagine now with AI and voice cloning,

299
00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:56.320
you know, they can get people's voices and call Medicare

300
00:16:56.480 --> 00:17:01.919
and try to trick Medicare right into into something, you know,

301
00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:05.519
maybe saying I lost I lost my card, I need

302
00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:09.279
another one, but oh I've moved, you need to send

303
00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:11.359
it here. You know, I'm kind of thinking off the

304
00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:15.319
top of my head. But and that's something very simple.

305
00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:17.440
I'm sure scammers have already thought about it, so I'm

306
00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:22.119
not trying to give them any ideas. But but yeah,

307
00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:25.039
I mean, it's the AI part of it is just

308
00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:30.680
and they they could you know, they can get voice

309
00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.039
recordings of people at Medicare too.

310
00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:39.039
Yeah, it's crazy accomplish. Yeah, I mean AI is great

311
00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:41.440
in a lot of ways, but then absolutely can be

312
00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:44.119
very scary and a lot of other ways. I think

313
00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.559
the yeah, the big point you hit on too. So, yeah,

314
00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:55.480
if someone calls you representing a certain uh agency company, whatever, bank,

315
00:17:56.920 --> 00:17:59.000
and they provide you the phone number, you don't don't

316
00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:01.559
write that phone number down right right exactly. You go

317
00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:04.359
go online and make and look at Medicare's numbers one

318
00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:07.160
hundred Medicare or you can figure out your phone number,

319
00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:09.160
or you just go Medicare dot gov and you just

320
00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:11.519
contact us, or you'll google it and you call that

321
00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:15.359
phone number. You don't call exactly use the information this

322
00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:17.920
because that's exactly the way they get you. Maybe don't

323
00:18:17.920 --> 00:18:20.200
get that get you that phone call, but you write

324
00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:22.440
down that phone number, not really kind of thinking it through,

325
00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.440
because they're catching you, you know, while you're making breakfast,

326
00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:26.759
or they're catching you at the wrong times.

327
00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:29.160
They're not exactly or they're you know, scaring you that

328
00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:30.839
something's wrong with your Medicare account.

329
00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:32.559
You might lose it, right.

330
00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:37.440
You're not clearly because they got you with that fear tactic.

331
00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:38.799
Yep. Absolutely.

332
00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:43.160
So I actually was doing some research this morning and

333
00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:48.759
found this one website that said the top three Medicare

334
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:51.640
scams in twenty twenty five, and the first one is

335
00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:55.559
the fake Medicare representative call. So obviously they pretend to

336
00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:59.839
be Medicare agents. They claim there's issues, they're issuing new cards,

337
00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:03.599
or need to verify your information, and it's always seems urgent.

338
00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:06.920
So we're sending you a new Medicare card. We just

339
00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:10.039
need your Medicare number and date of birth to confirm, right.

340
00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:12.960
So that's another that's fishing, trying to get your information

341
00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:18.279
and there it is right there. So how to avoid it,

342
00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:21.119
use a call blocker app or service and report the

343
00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:25.240
call to one eight hundred Medicare. So let me ask

344
00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:32.000
you about the impersonation. Then you, as a Medicare agent,

345
00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:36.599
if someone gave you permission to talk to them about Medicare,

346
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.359
you have to wait until October first before you can

347
00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:40.720
do that.

348
00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:42.079
Is that how that works?

349
00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:43.960
For?

350
00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:46.000
So?

351
00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:51.839
Correct? So that would be like for obviously we'll have

352
00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:54.039
I'll have my book of business. Yeah, so we'll have

353
00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:56.920
current clients right that are currently in their Medicare plans, right,

354
00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:00.279
So I'm obviously can help them year around. So we're

355
00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:03.559
specifically for that plan you know, in the in say

356
00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:07.880
two thousand and if it's September twenty twenty five, you know,

357
00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:10.759
I can answer questions. I can do everything with that

358
00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:13.359
current plan year. But if we're talking if I am

359
00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:18.200
doing anything that's soliciting for the plan year for twenty

360
00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:21.039
twenty six plans, that's correct that that can't be done

361
00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.200
until October first, and that's when the plans are released,

362
00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:28.799
so information on changes to the plans happens then, and

363
00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:32.880
then we still can't accept applications until fifteen seven, So

364
00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:37.079
that's just when the conversations and appointments can begin on

365
00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:40.559
October first before that, and that's that window, and then

366
00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:46.359
obviously it goes through potentially past January. But yeah, you're

367
00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:49.599
correct in that, so that there's another telltale sign. If

368
00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:55.279
someone is reaching out to you in September about plan

369
00:20:55.400 --> 00:20:58.119
information at the end of September, you know, even before

370
00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:02.400
October seventh, trying to enroll you, one of two things

371
00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:04.839
is happening. It could be a scam or they're certainly

372
00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:05.920
not in compliance.

373
00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:09.319
Right, So for in.

374
00:21:09.319 --> 00:21:15.400
Medicare, every annually. I have to do a fraud I

375
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:19.599
do fraud training. I do compliance training annually for Medicare,

376
00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:21.000
So not just once, I have to do it every

377
00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:25.240
year before that that window of October. So I generally

378
00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:27.640
do my training in August, try to get it done

379
00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:30.079
in August, like maybe I'll have left over the beating September,

380
00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:33.480
get it done early. But yeah, every year, so agents know,

381
00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:35.440
all should know all this stuff. I mean, it's beaten

382
00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:40.319
into us year after year, these types of trainings over

383
00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:42.039
and over again. And we have to get a nine

384
00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:45.119
percent pass rate on the on the fraud and abuse training.

385
00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:46.680
So you have to you have to know.

386
00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:50.200
Your stuff, okay, and you know that's what that is.

387
00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:51.880
One of the things we talk about is you know,

388
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:56.079
year round, you might be getting phone calls, emails, stuff

389
00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:01.559
in the mail wanting to talk to you about about Medicare.

390
00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:04.759
And so it's like if they're cond but especially I

391
00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:08.759
would imagine probably July, August, September, July maybe the calls

392
00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:11.680
start ramping up, but for sure August and September they

393
00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:14.119
start ramping up even more. And if they're saying, oh,

394
00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:16.480
we've got this great new plan, we think you qualify

395
00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:18.720
for they have no idea what the what the new

396
00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:20.440
plans are because, as you said, they don't come out

397
00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:25.400
till October first. And one of the tips we tell

398
00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:29.079
people is, you know, you might hear about new plans

399
00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:33.160
from your friends or family members that are going through

400
00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:36.720
the same process, right or it could be someone cold

401
00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.200
calls you and you think they're legit and you're listening

402
00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:42.480
to it. But we tell them, don't ever, ever, ever

403
00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:47.759
make a change with someone that's not your agent. You know,

404
00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.880
you go directly to your agent if you found if

405
00:22:50.920 --> 00:22:53.920
somebody gave you this information and say, listen, I heard

406
00:22:53.960 --> 00:22:57.759
about this new plan, would this work for me? Because

407
00:22:57.799 --> 00:23:01.880
your agent knows your whole situation. I give an example,

408
00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:05.319
and hopefully i'm correct in this, is that like somebody

409
00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:08.200
might try to convince you to add a policy or

410
00:23:08.359 --> 00:23:10.960
change a policy saying you're going to save all this

411
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:15.240
money in doctor's visits or you know, medical cost but

412
00:23:15.359 --> 00:23:19.559
then come to find out you're paying more than what

413
00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:23.799
you saved in prescription costs or in other costs. And

414
00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:27.079
so always go to your agent because they know your

415
00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:31.640
whole health situation and you know, yes, that plan might

416
00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:34.680
have saved you money in the medical cost, but your

417
00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:36.720
agent's going to go You're going to be paying so

418
00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:39.680
much more in prescription cost it's not worth it, right,

419
00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:43.279
Or it could be that your agent's like, yep, you

420
00:23:43.319 --> 00:23:45.200
were on my list a call, this plan is going

421
00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.640
to be great for you. Let's talk about getting it

422
00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:53.680
put in place. But we just highly stress to them, always, always,

423
00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:56.440
always go back to your agent. Yeah, because I hear

424
00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:00.880
a lot from agents that they find out that, you know,

425
00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:04.279
some of their clients will have switched without coming and

426
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.519
talking to them first. And I'm sure whoever it is

427
00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:08.319
that's talking to them is telling them, oh, you don't

428
00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:11.160
need to tell your agent, it's fine. They get notified.

429
00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:13.599
This happens all the time, you know.

430
00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:19.240
Yeah, I mean, like you said, I think you're you're bombarded,

431
00:24:19.799 --> 00:24:22.480
especially when you're turning safety five with all this information

432
00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:26.039
and you're just harassed constantly. But yeah, during that window

433
00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:31.000
coming up to open enrollment, a big one is these

434
00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:34.000
medicare advantage plans they will push out and that's a

435
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:36.480
lot of them, maybe could be smart ones, ones you

436
00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:42.599
haven't heard of, newer to the market potentially, and yeah,

437
00:24:42.599 --> 00:24:47.839
they pushed big time. They're if they're not supplying all

438
00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:51.079
the information that they should about the plans, and they're

439
00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:53.160
you know, trying to get you signed up, you know,

440
00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:55.559
as fast as possible. I mean that, Yeah, you want

441
00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:58.480
to have some caution there. And sure, this is the

442
00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:00.480
same thing with your neighbor, you know what, especially your

443
00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:02.200
neighbor might not necessarily.

444
00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:04.400
Be everybody's situation is different, Yeah.

445
00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:07.119
Of course, And there's a lot of choices on the

446
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:11.000
market too. So yeah, one thing like a dental benefit

447
00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:13.720
on Plan A might be amazing a little bit higher

448
00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:17.119
on one, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's all the

449
00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:19.960
other parts of that plan are going to you know,

450
00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:22.680
fit perfectly for you, just because you're getting a thousand

451
00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:24.880
dollars more in a dental benefit or something like.

452
00:25:24.839 --> 00:25:30.880
That, right, Yeah, yeah, So, and I guess there are

453
00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:32.759
going to be people out there that don't work with

454
00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:37.359
a Medicare agent. So that's another question, is if they

455
00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:42.000
don't have a Medicare agent, an annual enrollment comes up,

456
00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:44.640
do they just have to call the one eight hundred

457
00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.920
Medicare and start talking to somebody there to find out

458
00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:50.799
if they should make a change. I mean, is that

459
00:25:50.839 --> 00:25:55.240
their only other option other than finding a Medicare agent.

460
00:25:55.839 --> 00:25:58.599
Just like in I guess the wealth management field, there's

461
00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:02.079
there's self directed people. And if you feel, you know,

462
00:26:02.240 --> 00:26:04.920
confident that you know what you're doing and you're shopping

463
00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:08.160
and you have a system in place where you know

464
00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:10.359
you're confident or you're happy with the things are going,

465
00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:12.599
there's there's nothing wrong with that. Of course, I think

466
00:26:12.640 --> 00:26:17.400
there's no harm in using a broker. There's no cost

467
00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:19.400
to you for that. You have another person to run

468
00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:24.640
ideas past. You know, if they're operating from a fiduciary standpoint,

469
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:27.720
they're looking out for your best interests. I don't have

470
00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:31.279
any incentive to pick one plan over another. Eye contract

471
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.039
with all the major ones, so I don't I don't

472
00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.000
get extra incentives from United Healthcare that I do from

473
00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:40.039
Etna or something like that. So I'm looking out for

474
00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:42.279
your best interests. So I think there's a lot of

475
00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:45.400
value with using a broker. Now, if you if you

476
00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:49.400
use like an agent that's specific with Humanity or United

477
00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:51.640
health Care, they're only going to show you human or

478
00:26:51.720 --> 00:26:54.200
United health Care products. I'm not saying that might wouldn't

479
00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.039
be the best option for you. Maybe it would be

480
00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:58.000
the best option for you, but you don't know that,

481
00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:00.000
and that agent's not going to tell you one where

482
00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:02.519
or the other because they're pushing you know, their.

483
00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:04.559
Specific products right that they work with.

484
00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:09.720
Correct, Yeah, but yeah, So to sign up, I mean,

485
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:11.920
you can sign up directly through the carrier. So if

486
00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:14.559
you want, if you are self directed, you signed up

487
00:27:14.599 --> 00:27:19.039
yourself through you know, at United Healthcare ARP Medicare Advantage

488
00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:21.519
plan and it's open enrollment, and you know there's gonna

489
00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:24.559
be changes every year, so you know, you can go

490
00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:27.599
on United Healthcare's website and you can look at yourself

491
00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:29.680
at the different changes and what options that they have,

492
00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:34.599
and you can make a change directly through them if

493
00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:38.319
you're not utilizing a broker. They have phone numbers as well.

494
00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:40.440
You can do it over the phone with their agents

495
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:47.200
at at now or United Healthcare. Typically Medicare dot gov

496
00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:52.160
will Medicare provides information on the plans through the marketplace

497
00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:55.240
you can sign up, which is a separate Under sixty

498
00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:58.759
five stuff, but through through Medicare dot gov. I believe

499
00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:02.680
they're they're normally information wise. You're not you need to

500
00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.880
go to the carrier to directly sign up for the

501
00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:08.799
carrier's products. So we're utilizing you know, Social Security and

502
00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:11.359
Medicare dot gov mainly to get our Part A and

503
00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:16.200
Part B coverage. But they have information on their different

504
00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:18.079
plans on their website.

505
00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:26.200
Okay, this uh sounds like if you're going to do

506
00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:29.599
this on your own, you're you need to invest a

507
00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:33.640
lot of time to do a lot of research to

508
00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:37.319
figure out what's the best plan for you. So if

509
00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:39.359
I were looking at it, which I will be in

510
00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:43.400
five years, four and a half years, I'm going to

511
00:28:43.480 --> 00:28:44.039
use a broker.

512
00:28:46.039 --> 00:28:48.039
I'm going to use a Medicare agent.

513
00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:53.240
Because they already know, right, like someone like you that

514
00:28:54.039 --> 00:28:56.400
works with I mean, I can get information for someone

515
00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:59.440
that works directly with United or with ARP or with

516
00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:03.240
or whoever. But I think I would want to work

517
00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:11.440
with someone who is contracted with all the carriers to

518
00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:15.640
be able to see which plan would actually work best

519
00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:18.759
for me. And there's there's different So there's Part A,

520
00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:22.759
there's Part B. I've heard about Part D. Is there

521
00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:24.240
a Part C? Or did they skip C?

522
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:27.440
They that's called the I think they refer to that

523
00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:31.559
as the alphabet Medicare alphabet soup because they have all

524
00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:34.839
these different letters in there, and no one well I

525
00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:36.319
shouldn't say no one knows what they mean. But they

526
00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:38.920
could be confusing, right for first, when you're looking into

527
00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:42.079
medicare for the first time. So Part A is your

528
00:29:42.079 --> 00:29:45.440
hospital coverage, and there's some other stuff in there, but

529
00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:49.279
you mainly think of it as your hospital coverage. When

530
00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:53.720
you are working throughout your career or your spouse is working,

531
00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:56.079
you'll see in your pit and you look at your paycheck.

532
00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:57.720
And you have Medicare taken out, and they have.

533
00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:00.680
Medicare taken out. It's going to Part A to fund

534
00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:03.960
Part A. So for most people, if you have ten

535
00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:06.240
years of work experience, your spouse has ten years of

536
00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:09.640
work experience, you automatically are covered on Part A at

537
00:30:09.640 --> 00:30:13.319
no additional costs because you've been paying into that system.

538
00:30:14.119 --> 00:30:17.480
Now Part B there is a cost for that, and

539
00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:20.799
it can be linked to your income, and they use

540
00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:23.559
a two year look back, so we look at your

541
00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:27.839
tax returns two years prior essentially, so say your say

542
00:30:27.880 --> 00:30:30.960
your taxes are pretty high, or say you've made a

543
00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:33.359
lot of money the two years that you're just retired.

544
00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:36.519
Now you might pay a little bit more. Some people,

545
00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:38.680
if your lower income, you pay a little bit less

546
00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:42.799
or even nothing on Part B. But generally for most people,

547
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:46.880
you know you're it's the standard rate. Is was it

548
00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:51.039
one ninety one something like around that ballpark this year

549
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:55.119
for Medicare Part B, and that's your outpatient services. When

550
00:30:55.160 --> 00:30:57.880
you go to your PCP, you go to your specialist

551
00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:01.359
care covers, so you have Part A and Part B.

552
00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:06.359
You get those by signing up through Social Security and

553
00:31:06.359 --> 00:31:08.079
that gets you your Part A Part B. You get

554
00:31:08.119 --> 00:31:10.960
your Medicare card with your effective dates when you do that,

555
00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:14.440
and that's what you need in order to sign up

556
00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:17.880
for either a supplement plan or an advantage plan. And

557
00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:19.880
it makes sense to go one of those routes, two routes,

558
00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:23.519
because otherwise you're on the hook for deductibles and co

559
00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:26.079
insurance and things like that. If you sign up for

560
00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:29.039
an advantage plan, you know a lot of those deductibles

561
00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:35.359
go away. There's generally zero deductible for anything, maybe very

562
00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:39.359
low on specific plans. Supplements, they're going to go away too.

563
00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.599
There might be some co insurance. With an advantage plan.

564
00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:47.440
On the supplement side, you're you're more or less paying

565
00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:53.000
a monthly premium and your hospital, your outpatient all that

566
00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:55.519
stuff is more or less going to be there's different plans,

567
00:31:55.519 --> 00:31:57.759
but it's when to be covered and you're just essentially

568
00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:01.759
using your you're paying your premium monthly. But don't want

569
00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:03.599
to get too into the weeds with all this stuff.

570
00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:06.960
This is the first This is kind of the first part.

571
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:10.000
The first things I start with with a new client

572
00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:13.240
that's newly eligible to Medicare is going over these basics

573
00:32:13.319 --> 00:32:16.079
and trying to figure out what is going to be

574
00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:18.079
the best route for them. That's the first question you

575
00:32:18.119 --> 00:32:20.440
need to answers. Is Medicare advantage a better route for me?

576
00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:23.440
Or is Medicare supplement a better route for me? It's

577
00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:25.359
generally going to be one of those two, and not

578
00:32:25.480 --> 00:32:29.960
just your standard Medicare A and A and B. Now,

579
00:32:30.039 --> 00:32:33.680
so that's A and B. Parts C is another It

580
00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:36.160
is Medicare advantage. So it's just another word for an

581
00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:38.720
A Medicare advantage. So not everyone has Part C because

582
00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:40.480
you may have Part B Part A and Part B

583
00:32:40.759 --> 00:32:42.720
and a supplement plan. If you're going that route, you

584
00:32:42.759 --> 00:32:44.960
don't have an advantage plan. You can't have both one

585
00:32:45.039 --> 00:32:47.559
or the other. And then Part D is your prescription

586
00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:53.240
drug coverage. So A, B, C, D would be the

587
00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:54.599
alphabet soup of Medicare.

588
00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:57.680
Wow, I don't know why they just didn't call it

589
00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:00.599
this is your medical coverage, this is your hospital coverage,

590
00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:06.640
this is your advantage, and this is prescriptions. But it's

591
00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:10.839
it just it sounds confusing. And was it last year

592
00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:15.160
during open and annual enrollment that there was a ton

593
00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:18.359
of changes in Medicare or was it a couple of

594
00:33:18.400 --> 00:33:18.960
years ago.

595
00:33:19.559 --> 00:33:24.799
I think the biggest recent change that just is affecting

596
00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:32.160
things for all carriers and plans starting in twenty twenty

597
00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:34.720
six or I guess it really this past year actually

598
00:33:34.759 --> 00:33:38.279
few and twenty five would be the Inflation Reduction Act. Okay,

599
00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:44.240
so that was put in place to protect consumers from

600
00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:50.920
from larger expenses in terms specifically on prescription medication coverage okay,

601
00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:55.279
deductible or not deductibles. Out of pocket maxes could could

602
00:33:55.319 --> 00:33:57.920
be seven thousand dollars plus, you know if you're on

603
00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:02.400
these very expensive medicaid. So that's been lowered by a lot.

604
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:05.000
I mean it's down to like two thousand or less,

605
00:34:05.640 --> 00:34:09.000
so that's going to be like cap at the match

606
00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:12.400
you will pay for prescriptions. Insulin costs was lowered, and

607
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:13.880
that's that's been a hot spot.

608
00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:15.880
Yeah, that's the last couple of years.

609
00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:18.920
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean you talked a lot about it, right, right,

610
00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:22.320
that the costs like actually making insulin, it's not expensive,

611
00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:24.920
but they're charging so much an insulince. So you know,

612
00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:27.599
that's been a hot spot for our government officials attacking.

613
00:34:27.639 --> 00:34:29.639
So they've that was one of the things they've attacked,

614
00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:34.639
the prescription medications, the insulin lowering costs for consumers. So

615
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:37.239
that's a good thing overall for consumers. But if we

616
00:34:37.239 --> 00:34:41.199
look at the flip side of thing, if these insurance

617
00:34:41.239 --> 00:34:45.360
carriers are margins changed, right, they're making less now if

618
00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:47.559
they were making more, So they have to tweak their

619
00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:52.079
plans and make changes. So we see you know potentially

620
00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:55.280
you know, uh Co Insurance maybe going up a little

621
00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:58.159
bit on certain things or you know, different things than

622
00:34:58.199 --> 00:35:00.360
the plan have to change because they have to make

623
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:03.159
their margins work in their company. They don't like I

624
00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:04.920
when you look at I guess you'll see in the

625
00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:07.280
news or Unite Healthcare how much money that they've made.

626
00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:10.000
And but they're just a huge company. Like their margins

627
00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:12.679
from individual to individual aren't like huge amounts. They're not

628
00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:15.079
making you know, all this tons of money off you

629
00:35:15.159 --> 00:35:19.079
because one person might be in the hospital and you

630
00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:21.719
know they're throwing out fifteen thousand dollars.

631
00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:26.679
Check what's the economies of scale? Right? Corect it.

632
00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:29.840
You know, the profit that you make off of one

633
00:35:30.119 --> 00:35:34.840
consumer is x, but when you multiply that by millions

634
00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:41.119
of customers, then I mean that's your profits are a

635
00:35:41.159 --> 00:35:46.639
lot more exactly. Yep, yeah, yeah, I was going to

636
00:35:46.679 --> 00:35:50.800
look back to this article that to see what these

637
00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:55.599
other scams. So another one is fake Medicaary equipment or

638
00:35:55.639 --> 00:35:58.880
coverage claims. Well, we talked about this. They submit false

639
00:35:58.920 --> 00:36:06.119
claims for medical vices or services you never received, and

640
00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:08.199
it says to make sure you keep a record of

641
00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:12.320
your legitimate Medicare appointments and compare them again against your statements.

642
00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:14.519
Did I miss number?

643
00:36:14.519 --> 00:36:19.280
Oh here's a bogused Medicare refund offers. They promise a

644
00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:22.639
Medicare refund or reimbursement. To receive it, they say you

645
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:26.559
must verify your identity by providing your sole security number

646
00:36:26.639 --> 00:36:27.760
or bank details.

647
00:36:27.840 --> 00:36:28.760
That's where they get you.

648
00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:33.000
I haven't that one, and obviously that refund does not exist.

649
00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:36.920
But right, yeah, it's surprising in the slightest Yeah, well.

650
00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:39.840
Right, because then that's a way to say that you know,

651
00:36:39.880 --> 00:36:42.360
they could actually get into if you allow them into

652
00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:45.559
your system and you know, you're accessing your bank account.

653
00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:49.119
It's kind of the same thing with the tech support scams.

654
00:36:49.159 --> 00:36:54.480
They've evolved over the years, and they started doing subscription refunds, right,

655
00:36:54.599 --> 00:36:58.320
and then they're you're seeing that. And in fact, I

656
00:36:58.559 --> 00:37:01.719
talk to a lady about this recently. She was actually

657
00:37:01.719 --> 00:37:04.360
putting the five hundred dollars in and she said, I

658
00:37:04.400 --> 00:37:07.239
only put two zeros, but a third zero came up

659
00:37:07.320 --> 00:37:08.679
like five thousand dollars.

660
00:37:09.039 --> 00:37:10.199
She goes, I don't know.

661
00:37:10.760 --> 00:37:14.960
And he obviously whoever it was, had control of her system.

662
00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:16.920
And then they're like, oh, my gosh, I'm going to

663
00:37:16.960 --> 00:37:19.320
get fired, blah blah blah, and you know you need

664
00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:23.320
to give the money back. And so that's another way

665
00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:27.440
that scammers evolve, right, And they're not making enough money

666
00:37:27.440 --> 00:37:29.960
off their original medicare scams, so they tweak it a

667
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:33.159
little bit and try to catch people off guard.

668
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:38.119
That's amazing. I mean these are huge operations too. I've

669
00:37:38.719 --> 00:37:41.079
I've seen some of them in years ago. I mean

670
00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:47.639
they have massive call centers, yep, rows and rows of

671
00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:50.719
people that are doing this, and I mean the money

672
00:37:50.760 --> 00:37:52.239
involved is insane.

673
00:37:52.719 --> 00:37:54.679
Oh, it's really insist.

674
00:37:55.320 --> 00:38:00.800
They really are they're very smart at times, it's scary.

675
00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:01.239
Yeah.

676
00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:05.199
They this article that I was reading, it says in

677
00:38:05.239 --> 00:38:09.519
twenty twenty four, the Medicare Part D, so the prescription

678
00:38:09.639 --> 00:38:14.760
program alone saw an estimated improper payment rate of three

679
00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:19.840
point seven percent, which totaled three point five eight billion

680
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:25.559
in losses. And that was just with the Part D program.

681
00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:31.639
Yeah, yeah, I mentioned my dad. Yeah, he obviously worked

682
00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:36.320
in that field for some time. There was a company

683
00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:40.000
out of Florida. Yeah. I mean they were doing massive

684
00:38:40.039 --> 00:38:42.800
amounts of specifically doing.

685
00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:44.840
The fraudulent billings.

686
00:38:44.440 --> 00:38:47.320
Fraudulent buildings with like a pharmacy, and they had a network.

687
00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:49.159
I mean, this is how sophisticated stuff is. I mean

688
00:38:49.159 --> 00:38:53.480
they had a fake pharmacy in Florida, this whole network

689
00:38:53.519 --> 00:38:56.199
of like none of this like actually existed, but it

690
00:38:56.360 --> 00:38:59.239
like if Medicare, you know, from their side of the

691
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:01.440
house or from other people, it looked like it actually

692
00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:05.599
did because they were doing Yeah, they had shell companies

693
00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:07.440
and they were billing. They were doing all this billing.

694
00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:09.599
They're doing things correctly. It was coming from the pharmacy

695
00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:13.199
was going to this carrier was you know we're there. Yeah,

696
00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:14.840
I mean hundreds of millions of dollars.

697
00:39:14.920 --> 00:39:18.760
Yeah, yeah, it's it's just crazy.

698
00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:21.760
So, I mean, if you can consider the money lost

699
00:39:21.840 --> 00:39:25.519
in Part A, B, and C, you know, we're in

700
00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:28.000
the hundreds of billions of dollars, if you know, not

701
00:39:28.079 --> 00:39:32.440
close to a trillion dollar and and so do you

702
00:39:32.519 --> 00:39:34.400
do you think they're just going to say, oh, this

703
00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:36.639
isn't making enough money. You know, I'm going to go

704
00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:40.039
find something else to do. Now they're making all of

705
00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:43.519
this money, and this is and we only know based

706
00:39:43.559 --> 00:39:49.320
on what people report, right, And I mean, unless they

707
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:52.119
they find the group that's doing it.

708
00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:55.679
But I'm sure I shouldn't say. I'm sure.

709
00:39:56.079 --> 00:40:00.199
My guess is that they're not keeping records of exactly

710
00:40:00.760 --> 00:40:03.239
who they scammed and how much they got out of them.

711
00:40:03.280 --> 00:40:05.320
But I don't know, you know, maybe they are, maybe.

712
00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:06.920
They're maybe they're detailed like that.

713
00:40:07.159 --> 00:40:09.239
But uh so, I think.

714
00:40:09.079 --> 00:40:13.440
The the dollars lost is just so it's it's so

715
00:40:13.559 --> 00:40:15.719
much more than what we actually know.

716
00:40:17.199 --> 00:40:21.159
Oh is more because they haven't caught the ones that

717
00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:22.320
are still working, right.

718
00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:23.480
Oh, exactly right.

719
00:40:25.840 --> 00:40:29.719
So we're gonna wrap up, but I want to put

720
00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:32.840
some tips out there that people can use to stay safe.

721
00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:36.519
And you had mentioned a website Medicare dot gov. But

722
00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:40.440
I had also found there's one called Healthcare dot gov.

723
00:40:40.440 --> 00:40:42.199
Are you familiar with that website?

724
00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:46.280
Yeah? Yeah, I hope they're there, should be, maybe there's

725
00:40:46.320 --> 00:40:51.000
Medicare stuff on there. I specifically utilize healthcare dot gov

726
00:40:51.679 --> 00:40:54.119
for the market Blaze plan, so the under if you're

727
00:40:54.199 --> 00:40:57.719
under sixty five, okay, the the ACE that go buy

728
00:40:57.719 --> 00:41:00.360
again in a few different names, but it the A

729
00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:03.480
C A, so the Affordable Care Act plans. They'll also

730
00:41:03.519 --> 00:41:06.000
call them the marketplace plans, and it's also a reference

731
00:41:06.039 --> 00:41:08.840
as Obamacare plans. So those are the all the individual

732
00:41:08.880 --> 00:41:14.639
and family plans for are under sixty five. Individuals and

733
00:41:14.880 --> 00:41:20.280
families that you know, maybe self employed don't have a

734
00:41:20.280 --> 00:41:23.320
group plan that they can get into or not Medicare

735
00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:27.000
eligible yet. So that's so that maybe there's some some

736
00:41:27.159 --> 00:41:30.840
Medicare information on there as well, but uh, usually that's

737
00:41:30.880 --> 00:41:32.760
going to be directed towards the marketplace stuff, and then

738
00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:36.760
Medicare dot gov will be the Medicare stuff. There is

739
00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:39.559
a a newsletter I get you can, so if you

740
00:41:39.599 --> 00:41:41.440
go to Medicare dot gov, you can sign up for

741
00:41:41.679 --> 00:41:43.480
a newsletter there and they'll push out a lot of

742
00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:47.639
good information. If they're going around and signed newsletter. They'll

743
00:41:47.639 --> 00:41:49.960
say they'll they'll show you. They'll send information aby the

744
00:41:49.960 --> 00:41:52.639
scam that they found that is going around and nice

745
00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.599
steps you can do, and other information about Medicare. So

746
00:41:55.599 --> 00:42:00.280
I highly recommend signing up for that newsplayer just via email.

747
00:42:00.360 --> 00:42:02.159
I mean maybe they can send it to your paper,

748
00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:04.280
to your house as well. But I get a via

749
00:42:04.360 --> 00:42:07.519
email because you can go to Medicare dot sign up

750
00:42:07.559 --> 00:42:12.280
for those, and there's a different newsletter options ARP probably

751
00:42:12.280 --> 00:42:13.840
has a lot of good information I get. I get

752
00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:17.559
some stuff from there. Good company, and I'm sure there's

753
00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:20.360
there's others too, you know, the cares and whatnot, whatnot.

754
00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:24.679
Yeah, that deals specifically, I know, Uh. In our our newsletter,

755
00:42:24.760 --> 00:42:28.920
we're gonna because it is annual enrollment, we're putting stuff

756
00:42:28.920 --> 00:42:31.360
out about Medicare, and which is why I wanted to

757
00:42:31.360 --> 00:42:34.599
do this podcast now, because it's the early part of

758
00:42:35.320 --> 00:42:39.480
annual enrollment. So I think some other tips are going

759
00:42:39.559 --> 00:42:43.760
to be if you're not using an agent, which in

760
00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:47.199
my opinion, I highly suggest you use an agent. If

761
00:42:47.239 --> 00:42:50.079
you don't have one, talk to your family and friends

762
00:42:50.159 --> 00:42:52.559
and find out who they use. If you know they're

763
00:42:52.639 --> 00:42:56.280
trusted person and all of that, But if you still

764
00:42:56.440 --> 00:42:58.400
just want to do it on your own, just make

765
00:42:58.440 --> 00:43:02.320
sure you research and research and make sure you understand

766
00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:05.960
all four parts and how they operate and understand what

767
00:43:06.159 --> 00:43:09.119
each of them offers you so you can make an

768
00:43:09.239 --> 00:43:12.480
educated and formed decision as to what's going to work

769
00:43:12.559 --> 00:43:19.119
best for you. And then always monitor your statements. I'm

770
00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:23.239
guessing Medicare sends out. I don't know if it's monthly,

771
00:43:24.199 --> 00:43:28.760
weekly or or you know, bi weekly, but they're going

772
00:43:28.840 --> 00:43:31.199
to send you statements that are going to list all

773
00:43:31.239 --> 00:43:33.280
of your charges.

774
00:43:34.360 --> 00:43:38.440
And sign up for Medicare dot gov. You know, have

775
00:43:38.519 --> 00:43:41.880
a have an account on there you can okay electronically,

776
00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:45.840
you'll get other information from your career as well. Okay,

777
00:43:46.280 --> 00:43:49.840
up for their electronics stuff where you can get in

778
00:43:49.880 --> 00:43:51.760
your system and see you know, up to date stuff.

779
00:43:51.760 --> 00:43:53.840
You know, who knows if you're getting everything in the

780
00:43:53.840 --> 00:43:55.760
mail or if maybe you signed up or your broker

781
00:43:55.800 --> 00:43:59.159
signed you up for electronic only statements, So make sure

782
00:43:59.159 --> 00:44:01.440
you know you're logging in there, you know, make sure

783
00:44:01.519 --> 00:44:04.239
that they're not in your spam, you know, and your

784
00:44:04.920 --> 00:44:06.639
if you signed up for them electronically.

785
00:44:07.840 --> 00:44:15.239
Yeah, and then Social Security had changed their processes they

786
00:44:15.239 --> 00:44:17.559
weren't as of the end of September, they were no

787
00:44:17.679 --> 00:44:20.960
longer going to be mailing checks. Everybody had to go

788
00:44:21.039 --> 00:44:24.760
on s s A dot gov and make sure they

789
00:44:24.800 --> 00:44:27.159
had an account set up and you could do the

790
00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:32.320
direct deposit or there was another and I don't remember

791
00:44:32.360 --> 00:44:36.559
exactly what it was. It was some sort of card

792
00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:40.519
or something that you could get each month that would

793
00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:41.800
have your benefits on it.

794
00:44:41.960 --> 00:44:43.679
You'd have to go on there and look at it.

795
00:44:43.719 --> 00:44:49.960
But is so signing setting up an account at medicare

796
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:53.199
dot gov is going to be very helpful because you

797
00:44:53.239 --> 00:44:57.280
could always go on if you happen to not find

798
00:44:57.320 --> 00:45:00.159
your you know, your Medicare statements, or you lose you

799
00:45:00.159 --> 00:45:03.239
could always go on there and look at your statements

800
00:45:03.639 --> 00:45:05.920
and look at your charges, and you can see the

801
00:45:06.039 --> 00:45:09.039
charges before you actually get your statements, I would imagine.

802
00:45:10.119 --> 00:45:12.079
And then I'm sure they have a button you can

803
00:45:12.159 --> 00:45:15.960
push push to report fraudulent charges as well. But you know,

804
00:45:16.039 --> 00:45:19.400
like you mentioned the different carriers like ATNA and United Healthcare,

805
00:45:19.400 --> 00:45:22.159
whoever your carrier is, you know, get on their website.

806
00:45:22.199 --> 00:45:24.960
I'm sure they do newsletters as well that they'll send

807
00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:28.679
out information and you'll get information on new updates that

808
00:45:28.719 --> 00:45:30.039
they have as well.

809
00:45:31.039 --> 00:45:33.719
Yeah, and you know I should clarify. I guess you know.

810
00:45:33.880 --> 00:45:37.920
Medicare is never going to send you a check or

811
00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:43.800
the game was. But there are certain there are certain

812
00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:48.679
plans through carriers, advantage plans where you can get money

813
00:45:48.719 --> 00:45:53.679
to use for over the counter prescriptions and things like that.

814
00:45:53.679 --> 00:45:55.440
But that will be a car that they send you,

815
00:45:56.360 --> 00:45:58.679
so you know they're not going to contact them and

816
00:45:58.760 --> 00:46:01.960
get a check center or anything like that. But they'll

817
00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:06.199
send you either the same card that you use for everything,

818
00:46:07.960 --> 00:46:10.519
or separate card that you can use for a certain

819
00:46:10.559 --> 00:46:13.719
prescription or over the counter medications and other things. So

820
00:46:13.760 --> 00:46:16.760
there are plans that do exist. So if you hear

821
00:46:16.840 --> 00:46:19.000
something like that, like I get my neighbor says I

822
00:46:19.000 --> 00:46:21.840
get extra benefits, like I get one hundred and fifty

823
00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:25.599
bucks on my card every quarter, that does exist. So

824
00:46:25.760 --> 00:46:26.840
I just want to clarify that.

825
00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:29.199
For certain things. Right, But you're not, like you said,

826
00:46:29.239 --> 00:46:31.599
you're not going to get a check in the mail

827
00:46:31.719 --> 00:46:36.039
for a refund. No, not for Medicare right from Medicare

828
00:46:36.280 --> 00:46:40.280
right like you, some people normally got SOID security checks

829
00:46:40.280 --> 00:46:43.360
in the mail every month. They're doing away with it.

830
00:46:43.440 --> 00:46:45.440
They've done away with it. Everybody by the end of

831
00:46:45.440 --> 00:46:50.199
September needed to have signed up for their online account

832
00:46:50.199 --> 00:46:55.119
if they haven't already. So anything else too, yeah, yeah,

833
00:46:55.159 --> 00:46:58.480
anything else that you think would be beneficial.

834
00:47:00.159 --> 00:47:04.000
For the tips, I think we hit on a lot.

835
00:47:08.880 --> 00:47:09.719
I think you hit on a lot.

836
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:11.400
I mean we hit on the timelines.

837
00:47:12.039 --> 00:47:15.039
And you know about if you're still working, you know

838
00:47:15.159 --> 00:47:17.719
you're and you have credible coverage, you will get a

839
00:47:17.800 --> 00:47:20.800
letter from your carrier or your HR person to prove

840
00:47:20.840 --> 00:47:24.920
that so you won't get penalized. But to start planning

841
00:47:24.960 --> 00:47:27.960
early if you know when you're going to retire, because

842
00:47:27.960 --> 00:47:31.719
the processing times could take a while to get signed up.

843
00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:35.519
And I mean most people, most people, I think, know

844
00:47:35.559 --> 00:47:39.599
when they're going to retire. Sometimes, you know, a company

845
00:47:39.639 --> 00:47:42.840
might force you into early retirement or into retirements you

846
00:47:42.920 --> 00:47:44.119
might not have too much notice.

847
00:47:44.440 --> 00:47:46.719
I mean I have clients their company gets bought out

848
00:47:46.719 --> 00:47:49.239
by another company exactly all the employees.

849
00:47:49.599 --> 00:47:53.320
Happens all the time, has right, Yeah, But.

850
00:47:53.360 --> 00:47:56.480
Most people like you said, no, they're okay, I'm going

851
00:47:56.519 --> 00:48:00.039
to retire six months right, Yeah, that's one of our.

852
00:48:01.239 --> 00:48:04.480
Start planning early. So all right, Well, thanks Steve.

853
00:48:04.639 --> 00:48:08.320
Lots of great information and I'm at I'm going to

854
00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:11.800
sign up for Medicare's newsletters because I don't want to

855
00:48:11.840 --> 00:48:15.559
have to go searching the internet on you know, the

856
00:48:15.599 --> 00:48:17.800
new scams that are out there. I'd like to hear it,

857
00:48:17.880 --> 00:48:20.480
you know, right from them as to what they're seeing.

858
00:48:20.559 --> 00:48:23.679
So I'm definitely going to sign up for that. Yeah,

859
00:48:24.280 --> 00:48:28.519
all right, thanks again, Steve, really appreciate your time with this. Joyce,

860
00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:33.000
all right, take care, all right, everyone, So we uh

861
00:48:33.440 --> 00:48:36.599
a lot of information here about Medicare. Steve's very knowledgeable

862
00:48:37.920 --> 00:48:42.480
and uh, there's a lot. We're in the Phoenix, Arizona area.

863
00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:45.400
There is a lot of great Medicare agents out here

864
00:48:45.400 --> 00:48:48.239
in Phoenix. I'm sure there's a lot of great Medicare

865
00:48:48.280 --> 00:48:52.840
agents wherever you live. If you don't have one, in

866
00:48:52.920 --> 00:48:55.840
my opinion, I would suggest you use one. It's not

867
00:48:55.920 --> 00:48:58.320
going to cost you anything at least to have a

868
00:48:58.360 --> 00:49:01.280
review done to make sure you have the best policy

869
00:49:01.320 --> 00:49:05.239
for you or policies. Talk to your friends and family

870
00:49:05.320 --> 00:49:08.280
and find out if they have a trusted Medicare agent

871
00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:12.280
that they use, and and and talk to that person

872
00:49:13.960 --> 00:49:21.039
and watch your Medicare statements and uh, excuse me, report

873
00:49:21.119 --> 00:49:24.920
any fraudulent charges to whoever your carrier is, and and

874
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.800
get your Medicare account sign uh established online as well.

875
00:49:30.239 --> 00:49:32.960
All right, so don't forget Get on our website, Roseadvocacy

876
00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:35.719
dot org. You'll find our social media links bottom of

877
00:49:35.760 --> 00:49:39.239
the homepage. Sign up for our newsletters. Uh you can

878
00:49:39.280 --> 00:49:42.639
get one via email and or in the mail and

879
00:49:42.920 --> 00:49:45.400
uh hit the subscribe button so you don't ever miss

880
00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:48.920
an episode. And next week we are going to be

881
00:49:49.000 --> 00:49:52.079
talking to we have a guest. We're going to be

882
00:49:52.599 --> 00:49:58.079
talking to her about scam experience that she had, so

883
00:49:58.119 --> 00:49:59.360
you're going to want to tune in for that.

884
00:49:59.599 --> 00:50:01.119
Thank you everyone.

885
00:50:02.000 --> 00:50:05.039
Well that's all the knowledge for this episode. Tune in

886
00:50:05.199 --> 00:50:09.280
every Tuesday at eight am Pacific time on KFOURHD Radio

887
00:50:09.440 --> 00:50:14.119
at KFORAHD dot com as Joyce explores a variety of knowledge.

888
00:50:14.159 --> 00:50:17.760
So you have the power to make scam protection your

889
00:50:17.880 --> 00:50:21.559
healthy habit. And until then, feel free to reach out

890
00:50:21.559 --> 00:50:24.159
to Joyce and let's talk about scams.